If you give a game comprehensive post-release support, and not the "lauded but crap" kind like Diablo II received from Blizzard, it will continue to hold value, draw attention, engage the community, and generally leave everybody in better straits as a result. The best? Considering how relatively close this is to the release date in absolute terms, I'd be shocked if this was the last kind of mega-patch endeavor that gets done by the devs.

These folks get it, and other companies would do well to carry the lesson forward. Were I not broke, things like this are purchase-inspirers outright.

I already finished the game twice through both paths without any issues/bugs, would give both playthroughs 10/10, and I will definitely play it at least once again (but probably twice), so more improvements are welcome. I truly hope expansion announcement will happen though, because this game is a drug for me and I need a fix.

BTW I bought both CE version and GOG version and do not regret single penny. I just pray that new Deus Ex will be similarly amazing.

But why are such large scale changes needed post-release? There should be a mechanism for testing games prior to release that enables devs to carry out improvements pre-release, especially if they're ones that can be made in weeks or months.

It's a bit like the add-in/add-on argument mentioned in another thread - people have played the game now - improvements will improve the experience, but it's a lot of effort for minimal gain if it's only noticeable on a repeat play through. If the effort is on expanding the game in a way you can enjoy after a play through then even better IMHO.

I have changed the way I play games a long time ago because of the releases being in Beta. I play the game for a few hours (usually maxed at 10) and then put the game down until all patches are out before playing it.

Originally Posted by kalniel
But why are such large scale changes needed post-release? There should be a mechanism for testing games prior to release that enables devs to carry out improvements pre-release, especially if they're ones that can be made in weeks or months.

Probably pressure from the publisher(s) ?
Things like the so-called "Dead Lines", up to which a given product must be "assembled" following a distinct schedule ?

—  Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius  and a lot of courage  to move in the opposite direction. (E.F.Schumacher, Economist, Source)

Originally Posted by KapitanUnterhosen
They'll probably add some improvements developed for the console versions.

If it's performance optimizations, required to get this gorgeous game to run better on the Xbox360, then I'll be very happy, as my current rig struggles to run this well on Med to High settings. I've actually put the game down (after investing 6 or 7 hours) because I'm not pleased with the performance in combat. Granted, I could just go out and upgrade my aging CPU, graphics card, mo-board, memory, etc but I can't seem to justify when my machine plays all other current games on High settings.

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
Probably pressure from the publisher(s) ?
Things like the so-called "Dead Lines", up to which a given product must be "assembled" following a distinct schedule ?

But as a developer you'll have agreed that you could provide your produce within the deadlines, which would normally include time for testing and redevelopment.

I don't know - it could be a marketing strategy to create some improvements post release to raise the feel-good factor about a developer - push out something 'good-enough' for release day, then polish and extend content further as a marketing exercise to try and draw in fringe markets.

Deadlines tend to be fixed at a too short range … That's why some developers simply say : "It's ready when it's ready". Nothing more anymore.

Plus, there is serious money involved : "Publish, or Perish !" - Some Publishers will just cut the money at a certain point, no matter what.

See Larian and the very first Divinity game for that.

Or the case of the French or Belgian company Lar from Larian Studios pointed out at in one of his "Status Updates".

—  Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius  and a lot of courage  to move in the opposite direction. (E.F.Schumacher, Economist, Source)

I agree they should have found another piece of Chopin's music to add to this music video. I don't think the music does the video justice.

As for why this is so - well, in Witcher 2's case, they are working with a brand new engine (this always seem to give problems during development); the deadline is set to a certain period of time (may 17th in this case) for various reasons. Maybe they need some cashflow in May, maybe not.